Lucy Stoter
Staff Writer

  Have you ever wanted to join a club with a tight-knit community, full of physical activity, and creative thinking? If so, join Fencing Club. 

The club helps encompass the sport that originated in 588 A.D. in the Byzantine Empire. A match lasts roughly three minutes or until a fencer has scored 15 points. The points that are gained are dependent on where the body is struck. 

Fencing has become an outlet of exercise and expression for many people all over the world. Fencing Club is also an exciting way to get involved at R.J. Reynolds High School. It allows students to connect with others and express their desire to learn the strategies and techniques related to the sport. 

For many, Fencing Club is more than just an after-school activity. The club members have become close friends and even consider each other family. While the main point of the club is to fence, several of the club members have said they truly became closer than ever expected like captain, Julie Nguyen.

Another member of Fencing Club, Sophie Elliot, has been positively affected by her experience in the club through her connections with other students.     

 “[Fencing Club] can help people get out there and introduce themselves to a new sport,” Nguyen said. “You make connections with other people and learn how to do other stuff.”

“[Fencing Club] is a really small group, so it is like a little family,” Elliot said. 

Fencing Club has become a very welcoming environment for many, allowing them to share interests with their peers. It also gives students a wider skill set than just interacting with friends. 

 Some of these skills help guide students in more activities than just fencing. Elliot has found fencing to be influential in the other sports and activities she participates in outside of the club.

“Fencing techniques and principles can be applied to other sports as well as learning strategies and mind games,” Elliot said.

Elliot feels it has impacted the activities she participates in, such as playing and refereeing soccer.The basic principles that help her in these activities are highlighted within the sport of fencing. 

“We warm up and do laps and I have them do footwork because distance, timing, and also just getting a touch is very important,” Elliot said.

These foundations of the sport are fundamental to the success of matches and essential to helping build a more complex technique. These crucial rules of fencing are beneficial in life-long experiences and ways of life. 

Fencing Club at Reynolds has given many students a new way to become involved in the Reynolds community, providing an access point for each and everyone’s creativity and energy.